U.S. patent number 10,737,796 [Application Number 15/182,860] was granted by the patent office on 2020-08-11 for propulsion assembly for an aircraft having a turbojet with a non-ducted fan and an attachment pylon.
This patent grant is currently assigned to SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES. The grantee listed for this patent is SNECMA. Invention is credited to Timothy Delteil McWilliams, Mathieu Simon Paul Gruber.
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United States Patent |
10,737,796 |
Gruber , et al. |
August 11, 2020 |
Propulsion assembly for an aircraft having a turbojet with a
non-ducted fan and an attachment pylon
Abstract
A propulsion assembly for an aircraft, the assembly including a
turbojet having at least one unducted propulsive propeller, and an
attachment pylon for attaching the turbojet to a structural element
of the aircraft, the pylon being positioned on the turbojet
upstream from the propeller and having a streamlined profile
defined by two opposite side faces extending transversely between a
leading edge and a trailing edge. The pylon includes a plurality of
blow nozzles situated in the vicinity of its trailing edge and
configured to blow air taken from a pressurized portion of the
turbojet, the blow nozzles being positioned over at least a
fraction of the trailing edge of the pylon that extends
longitudinally facing at least a portion of the propeller. A method
of reducing the noise generated by a pylon attaching a turbojet to
an aircraft is presented.
Inventors: |
Gruber; Mathieu Simon Paul
(Chennevieres sur Marne, FR), Delteil McWilliams;
Timothy (Paris, FR) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SNECMA |
Paris |
N/A |
FR |
|
|
Assignee: |
SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES (Paris,
FR)
|
Family
ID: |
54291420 |
Appl.
No.: |
15/182,860 |
Filed: |
June 15, 2016 |
Prior Publication Data
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|
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20170088276 A1 |
Mar 30, 2017 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
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Jun 15, 2015 [FR] |
|
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15 55424 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F02C
7/045 (20130101); B64C 21/04 (20130101); F02C
6/20 (20130101); B64D 27/20 (20130101); B64D
27/26 (20130101); B64D 29/06 (20130101); B64C
2230/06 (20130101); F05D 2220/323 (20130101); B64D
29/04 (20130101); Y02T 50/60 (20130101); F05D
2260/96 (20130101); B64C 2230/04 (20130101); B64D
2027/005 (20130101); Y02T 50/10 (20130101); B64C
2230/14 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B64D
27/20 (20060101); F02C 7/045 (20060101); F02C
6/20 (20060101); B64D 27/26 (20060101); B64C
21/04 (20060101); B64D 29/06 (20060101); B64D
29/04 (20060101); B64D 27/00 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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2 327 628 |
|
Jun 2011 |
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EP |
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2 949 754 |
|
Mar 2011 |
|
FR |
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2 968 634 |
|
Jun 2012 |
|
FR |
|
2 971 765 |
|
Aug 2012 |
|
FR |
|
2 974 563 |
|
Nov 2012 |
|
FR |
|
2 138 507 |
|
Oct 1984 |
|
GB |
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2 203 710 |
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Oct 1988 |
|
GB |
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Other References
Search Report as issued in French Patent Application No. 1555424,
dated Feb. 25, 2016. cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Green; Richard R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
LLP
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A propulsion assembly for an aircraft, the assembly comprising:
a turbojet having at least one unducted propulsive propeller; and
an attachment pylon for attaching the turbojet to a structural
element of the aircraft, said attachment pylon being positioned on
the turbojet upstream from the unducted propulsive propeller and
having a streamlined profile defined by two opposite side faces
extending transversely between a leading edge and a trailing edge;
wherein the attachment pylon has a plurality of blow nozzles
situated in the vicinity of its trailing edge and configured to
blow air taken from a pressurized portion of the turbojet, said
blow nozzles being positioned over at least a fraction of the
trailing edge of the attachment pylon that extends longitudinally
facing at least a portion of the unducted propulsive propeller,
wherein each of the plurality of blow nozzles has a circular or
elliptical outlet section, wherein the plurality of blow nozzles
project out from the trailing edge of the attachment pylon, wherein
the blow nozzles open out in line with the trailing edge of the
attachment pylon, and wherein the blow nozzles are retractable into
the inside of the attachment pylon.
2. A propulsion assembly according to claim 1, further comprising
at least one valve configured to control an arrival of air at least
one blow nozzle.
3. A method of reducing noise generated by an attachment pylon for
attaching a turbojet to a structural element of an aircraft, the
turbojet having at least one unducted propulsive propeller, the
attachment pylon being positioned on the turbojet upstream from the
unducted propulsive propeller and having a streamlined profile
extending transversely between a leading edge and a trailing edge,
the method comprising blowing air taken from a pressurized portion
of the turbojet from the trailing edge of the attachment pylon via
a plurality of blow nozzles positioned over at least a fraction of
the trailing edge of the attachment pylon extending longitudinally
facing at least a portion of the unducted propulsive propeller,
wherein each of the plurality of blow nozzles has a circular or
elliptical outlet section, wherein the plurality of blow nozzles
project out from the trailing edge of the attachment pylon wherein
the blow nozzles open out in line with the trailing edge of the
attachment pylon, and wherein the blow nozzles are retractable into
the inside of the attachment pylon.
4. A method according to claim 3, further comprising controlling
the air blown by the blow nozzles as a function of a stage of
flight of the aircraft.
5. A method according to claim 3, wherein the air blown by the blow
nozzles is pulsed at a predefined frequency that is less than a
passing frequency of a blade of the unducted propulsive propeller
facing the attachment pylon.
6. A method according to claim 3, wherein the air blown by the blow
nozzles is pulsed sequentially at different random frequencies that
are less than a passing frequency of blades of a propeller facing
the attachment pylon.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority to French Patent Application No.
1555424, filed Jun. 15, 2015, the entire content of which is
incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD
The present invention relates to the general field of turbine
engines, and it applies more particularly to turbojets with
non-ducted propulsive propellers.
BACKGROUND
The present trend for civilian aeroengines seeks to reduce both
their specific fuel consumption and the pollutants they reject to
the atmosphere. One of the technical solutions adopted by engine
manufacturers consists in increasing the bypass ratio between the
primary stream (or "hot" stream) and the secondary stream (or
"cold" stream) of the aeroengine. In this respect, several turbojet
architectures have been proposed, including turbojets having pairs
of contrarotating propellers (also known as "contrarotating open
rotors" (CROR)), which are good candidates for replacing present
turbojets, in particular on aircraft that perform medium-haul
flights.
In another conventional turbojet architecture, a nacelle channels
the secondary stream so as to produce the majority of the thrust.
With the CROR architecture, the nacelle is removed and the
propulsion system comprises an upstream propeller driving the flow
and a downstream propeller that is contrarotating relative to the
upstream propeller, and that has the function of straightening or
guiding the flow (it being possible for the downstream propeller to
be stationary in other types of architecture). The propulsion
efficiency of the engine is improved by recovering rotary energy
more effectively than with a stationary wheel, and the diameter of
the propellers is also greatly increased in order to enable a
larger quantity of air to be entrained.
Nevertheless, in the absence of a nacelle, sound emissions
represent a major drawback for this architecture, and more
particularly the noise generated by the propellers, and by various
interactions between the propellers and the components associated
with mounting the engine on the aircraft (also referred to as
effects associated with installing the engine on the aircraft).
When the turbojet is mounted on the fuselage of an aircraft by
means of an attachment pylon located upstream from the propellers,
the configuration is said to be of the "pusher" type. In such a
configuration, the presence of the attachment pylon is associated
with several sources of noise, of which the major source is
constituted by interaction between the wake (corresponding to a
deficit of flow speed) created downstream from the pylon and the
upstream propeller.
This interaction between the wake and the upstream propeller leads
in particular to two types of noise:
a tonal type noise, corresponding to the interaction between the
mean wake (constituted by a speed deficit downstream from the
pylon) and the upstream propeller, which noise is present at the
frequencies specific to the propeller; and
a broadband type noise, corresponding mainly to the interaction
between the turbulent structures of the wake and the upstream
propeller, with the source of this noise being located at the
leading edges of the blades of the upstream propeller, this noise
covering a wide range of frequencies;
Several solutions have been proposed for reducing the sound
nuisance produced by interaction between the wake from the pylon
and the upstream propeller. By way of example, Document FR 2 968
634 proposes compensating the speed deficit downstream from the
pylon in order to reduce the impact of the wake by using a pylon
that has a trailing edge fitted with two tiltable faces, between
which air can be blown over the entire span of the pylon.
Nevertheless, such a solution presents the drawback of requiring a
large amount of air to be taken from the engine, thereby reducing
performance.
SUMMARY
A main aspect of the present invention is thus to mitigate the
above-mentioned drawbacks by proposing a propulsion assembly for an
aircraft, the assembly comprising a turbojet having at least one
unducted propulsive propeller, and an attachment pylon for
attaching the turbojet to a structural element of the aircraft, the
pylon being positioned on the turbojet upstream from the propeller
and having a streamlined profile defined by two opposite side faces
extending transversely between a leading edge and a trailing edge,
wherein the pylon has a plurality of blow nozzles situated in the
vicinity of its trailing edge and configured to blow air taken from
a pressurized portion of the turbojet, the blow nozzles being
positioned over at least a fraction of the trailing edge of the
pylon that extends longitudinally facing at least a portion of the
propeller.
Another way of reducing interaction between the wake and the
upstream propeller consists in increasing mixing downstream from
the pylon so that the wake is filled in more quickly. To do this,
the inventors have observed that increasing the amount of
turbulence downstream from the pylon makes it possible to increase
this mixing, and thus to reduce the impact of the wake on the
upstream propeller.
The propulsion assembly of the invention makes it possible for the
wake downstream from the pylon to have its impact on the upstream
propeller reduced by increasing mixing downstream from the pylon
and by modifying the structure of the wake. Specifically, the blow
nozzles, which blow air in discrete manner over a fraction of the
lengths of the pylon, makes it possible to destructure the wake by
increasing the amount of turbulence downstream from the pylon, thus
making it possible to improve the decrease in the speed deficit in
the plane of the leading edge of the upstream propeller. In other
words, increasing mixing serves to fill in the speed deficit more
quickly downstream from the pylon, and thus to reduce the
interaction between the wake and the upstream propeller.
Furthermore, since the flow is disturbed downstream from the pylon
progressively as the jets blown through the nozzles mix with the
wake, the wake becomes destructured and more diffuse. This
destructuring of the wake has in particular the effect of reducing
tonal interaction noise and broadband noise more effectively.
Furthermore, the use of air blown discretely through the blow
nozzles of the invention makes it possible to reduce the quantity
of air that is taken from the engine compared with blowing over the
entire span of the pylon. It is also possible to reduce the outlet
diameters of the nozzles in order to reduce the quantity of air
that is taken, while conserving the same ejection speed.
In an embodiment of the invention, the nozzles may be present only
over a fraction of the trailing edge of the pylon that is situated
at least in part facing the propeller.
In an embodiment of the invention, the blow nozzles open out in
line with the trailing edge of the attachment pylon.
In another embodiment of the invention, the blow nozzles open out
in one and/or both of the side faces of the attachment pylon, the
end of each blow nozzle may be flush with the side face of the
attachment pylon in which it opens out. In this configuration, the
blow nozzles serve to compensate the residual lift effect of the
attachment pylon that might give rise to asymmetry of the wake.
In an embodiment, the blow nozzles are retractable into the inside
of the attachment pylon. It is thus possible to retract the blow
nozzles, e.g. by using actuators, during a stage of flight of the
aircraft that does not require them to be used.
In an embodiment, the propulsion assembly further includes at least
one valve configured for controlling the arrival of air at at least
one blow nozzle. It is thus possible to obtain finer management
over the zones in which blowing takes place by deactivating some or
all of the nozzles, e.g. in order to concentrate blowing on the
tips of the upstream propeller or on any other zone of interest,
and also to deactivate blowing when it is not needed so as to
reduce the quantity of air that is taken from the turbojet.
An aspect of the invention also provides a method of reducing the
noise generated by an attachment pylon for attaching a turbojet to
a structural element of an aircraft, the turbojet having at least
one unducted propulsive propeller, the pylon being positioned on
the turbojet upstream from the propeller and having a streamlined
profile extending transversely between a leading edge and a
trailing edge, the method including a step of blowing air taken
from a pressurized portion of the turbojet from the trailing edge
of the pylon via a plurality of blow nozzles positioned over at
least a fraction of the trailing edge of the pylon extending
longitudinally facing at least a portion of the propeller.
In an embodiment, the method further includes a step of controlling
the air blown by the blow nozzles as a function of stages of flight
of the aircraft.
In an embodiment, the air blown by the blow nozzles is pulsed at a
predefined frequency that is less than the passing frequency of a
blade of the propeller facing the pylon, in order to obtain fine
control over the flow rate of air blown through the nozzles, and
further reduce the amount of air taken from the engine. Also, by
selecting a predefined frequency that is less than the passing
frequency of a blade of the propeller facing the pylon, the method
avoids creating a sound source of the tonal monopole type (due to a
periodic signal) in the audible frequency range (20 hertz (Hz) to
20 kilohertz (kHz)).
In a variant, the air blown by the blow nozzles may be pulsed at a
random frequency that is less than the passing frequency of blades
of a propeller facing the pylon in order to avoid phenomena of time
correlation between the blow nozzles of the pylon and the
propeller, which can increase the noise generated by the sources as
a whole.
In certain embodiments, the optionally random frequency at which
the air blown through the blow nozzles is pulsed is less than or
equal to 20 Hz.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other characteristics and benefits of the present invention appear
from the following description made with reference to the
accompanying drawings which illustrate embodiments having no
limiting character. In the figures:
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a propulsion assembly of an
embodiment of the invention; and
FIGS. 2 to 4 are diagrammatic views of the attachment pylon of a
propulsion assembly in different embodiments of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the present description, the terms "longitudinal", "transverse",
and terms derived therefrom are defined relative to the main axis
of the pylon extending between the turbojet and the aircraft; the
terms "upstream" and "downstream" are defined relative to the flow
direction of the fluid passing through the turbojet.
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a propulsion assembly comprising a
turbojet 1 attached to the fuselage 2 of an aircraft by means of an
attachment pylon 3. The turbojet 1 is centered on an axis X-X and
it has a pair of unducted propellers 4 constituted by a rotary
upstream propeller 4a (having a blade set 40) and a downstream
propeller 4b that is contrarotating relative to the upstream
propeller 4a. The downstream propeller 4b could equally well be
stationary and in the form of a variable pitch stator, as applies
for example to so-called "unducted single fan" (USF) engines, or
indeed it could be a stator without variable pitch. It should be
observed that the turbojet 1 is in a so-called "pusher"
configuration, i.e. the attachment pylon 3 is attached to the
turbojet 1 upstream from the pair of propellers 4.
The attachment pylon 3 comprises a streamlined profile 30 defined
by two opposite side faces 33 and 34 (FIGS. 2, 3, and 4) extending
transversely between a leading edge 31 and a trailing edge 32. In
accordance with the invention, the attachment pylon 3 has a
plurality of blow nozzles 36 distributed over at least a portion of
the trailing edge 32 of the pylon extending longitudinally facing
the propeller 4a. These nozzles 36 open out at the trailing edge 32
of the pylon and they extend it. They are configured to blow air
coming from a pressurized portion of the turbojet 1 (e.g. from the
high pressure compressor, or the low pressure compressor, depending
on the architecture of the turbojet), and the flow of air that they
eject may be controlled by means of one or more valves 38
controlling all or part of the flow of air reaching a nozzle 36, or
a group of nozzles.
The presence of one or more control valves 38 serves in particular
to provide fine control over the portion of the pylon on which it
is desired to blow air (for example, it is possible to concentrate
blown air on the tip of the upstream propeller 4a), thereby
reducing the quantity of air that is taken from the turbojet. A
portion of the air circuit is shown diagrammatically in dashed
lines in the figures, the air flow direction when blowing is active
being represented by arrows.
In general manner, the blowing from the nozzles can be controlled
in particular by the controlled valve 38 suitable for controlling
the flow rate of air reaching a nozzle (or a group of nozzles), as
a function of stages of flight of the aircraft. For example,
blowing may be activated only during stages of the aircraft taking
off and landing.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the FIG. 1, pylon 3 showing its
trailing edge 32, which may indeed be truncated. It can be seen
that the nozzles open out in the trailing edge 32 and extend it
over a certain length a. It is also possible to envisage using blow
nozzles 36 of length a that differs from one nozzle 36 to another,
e.g. to provide shapes that are more complex in order to optimize
the mixing in the wake downstream from the pylon 3. The length a of
the nozzles 36 projecting out from the pylon 3 is, in an
embodiment, of the same order of magnitude as the thickness of the
boundary layer at the trailing edge 32 of the pylon when the
aircraft is taking off (which corresponds to a Mach number of about
0.2). Generally, the boundary layer at the trailing edge 32 of the
pylon under such conditions lies in the range 10 centimeters (cm)
to 20 cm.
The attachment pylon 3 of the invention may also include a system
(not shown) enabling the nozzles 36 to be retracted into the pylon
3. By way of example, this system may consist in actuators mounted
inside the pylon and capable of retracting the nozzles into tubes
situated inside the pylon (not shown), these tubes being of
diameter that is slightly greater than the diameter of the
nozzles.
The nozzles 36 have an outlet diameter d that may also vary, and it
is desirable for the diameter to be determined so as to obtain jets
that are sufficiently powerful to destabilize the flow as much as
possible, while minimizing the amount of air taken off from the
engine. It is also possible to envisage varying this diameter d
from one nozzle 36 to another as a function of requirements. In an
embodiment, the diameter d of the nozzles is of the same order of
magnitude as the thickness of the shift in the boundary layer at
the trailing edge 32 of the pylon when the aircraft is taking off
(Mach number about 0.2), i.e. about 1.25 millimeters (mm) to 2.5
mm.
Finally, the nozzles 36 may be spaced apart along the trailing edge
32 by a varying distance b, in an embodiment at most having the
same order of magnitude as the thickness of the boundary layer at
the trailing edge of the pylon 32 when the aircraft is taking off.
For greater ease of integration and to reduce the complexity of the
system, it may nevertheless be appropriate to increase the distance
b between the nozzles 36, in particular as a function of the span
of the pylon.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a pylon 3' at its trailing edge 32,
in another embodiment of the invention. It can be seen in this
figure that the nozzles 36' open out on either side of the trailing
edge 32 in the side faces 33 and 34 of the pylon 3', being flush
with these faces (in other words, in this example, the length of
the nozzles 36' is zero).
In addition, the nozzles 36' are configured in such a manner that
they make an angle .alpha. with a plane of the pylon passing
substantially through the trailing edge 32 and the leading edge 31.
In this configuration, the blow nozzles 36' serve to compensate
residual lift effects of the attachment pylon that might lead to
asymmetry of the wake.
FIG. 4 shows a variant of the FIG. 3 embodiment in which the angle
.beta. defined between the nozzles 36'' and the plane of the pylon
passing through the trailing edge 32 and the leading edge 31 is
greater than the above-specified angle .alpha..
In the examples of FIGS. 3 and 4, the outlet diameter of the
nozzles 36', 36'', their length, and the distance between them may
vary from one nozzle to another or may be of fixed value (e.g.
having the same order as the thickness of the boundary layer at the
trailing edge 32 while taking off, or the same order of magnitude
as thickness of the shift of the boundary layer for the diameter of
the nozzles), as described above for the example of FIG. 2.
In the examples shown and described above, the nozzles 36, 36',
36'' generally present respective outlet edges of the nozzles that
are circular or elliptical in shape. In other words, the nozzles
36, 36', 36'' present outlet sections that are circular or
elliptical. It should be observed that by varying these edges (or
in other words these nozzle outlet sections), it is possible to
present shapes that are different, presenting portions in relief,
e.g. so as to present sawteeth or undulations, that are distributed
periodically or in random manner around the circumference of the
outlet edges of the nozzles. When present, the noise specific to
the nozzles associated with the blowing can be attenuated by
modifying the shapes of the outlet edges of the nozzles 36, 36',
36'', in this way.
Finally, in a beneficial provision, the air may be blown in pulsed
manner at a predetermined frequency, in particular in order to
control the flow rate of the air blown through the nozzles.
Nevertheless, care should be taken to ensure that the frequency at
which the air is pulsed is less than the passing frequency of a
blade of the propeller facing the pylon in order to avoid creating
periodic turbulent structures in the wake. If the pulsed frequency
is too high, a sound source of tonal monopole type (due to a
periodic signal) might appear in the audible frequency range (20 Hz
to 20 kHz). This phenomenon would create additional noise
associated with blowing, which is not desirable.
In a variant, the air may be pulsed in random manner, while still
making sure that the frequency of the pulsing is less than the
passing frequency of a blade of the propeller facing the pylon.
Specifically, if the random frequency is too high, then a time
correlation phenomenon can appear between the noise sources, and
that would increase the overall noise, which is likewise not
desirable.
By way of example, the optionally random frequency at which the
blown air is pulsed may be selected to be less than equal to 20 Hz,
in order to avoid the above-mentioned drawbacks.
* * * * *